OfficeCat provides reference information on discovered vulnerabilities so users can remediate risks. By detecting these hostile files before they are opened, OfficeCat enables users to proactively increase the effectiveness of their security efforts.

…To create effective rules, the VRT conducts ongoing research into Microsoft Office vulnerabilities and will regularly update OfficeCat with the latest vulnerability information.

The command-line utility ships with rules for a total of six Microsoft Office bulletins and about 45 CVE entries related to Microsoft Office vulnerabilities.

There has been a noticeable surge in attacks exploiting critical security vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Office software suite. Here’s a small sample of previous reporting on these attacks.